“We struggle to understand what the Ukrainian side means.
There have been no attempts of infiltration by the Russian
army,” said President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry
Peskov.

On Friday evening Kiev authorities said they prevented an
infiltration attempt by Russian military disguised as Red Cross
peacekeepers.

Deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s administration, Valery
Chaly, told the First National Channel that a huge convoy
accompanied by Russian troops and military equipment was moving
towards the Ukrainian border - “supposedly in agreement with
the Red Cross committee.” He claimed that it was
"apparently done in order to provoke a full-scale
conflict.”

Peskov also stressed that Moscow is deeply concerned about the
humanitarian situation in Ukraine. “The [humanitarian]
catastrophe is the number one topic for discussion.”

The United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon also voiced deep concerns
over the situation in eastern Ukraine stressing that the global
body will “continue to actively and closely follow the
situation.”

“Innocent civilians trapped in the fighting continue to lose
their lives,” he said on Friday. Ban added that
“restoring vital infrastructure, not least for water and
sanitation, is essential for a return to normal life” and that
“the number of those who are fleeing the area continues to
grow.”

The UN is ready to consider additional measures of support should
the humanitarian situation deteriorate, he said. “At this
stage, the situation is being handled appropriately by the
Government of Ukraine, in coordination with international
partners.”

Earlier on Tuesday UN humanitarian official John Ging told an
urgent meeting of the UN Security Council: “since the start
of the year 168,677 Ukrainians have been registered as having
crossed into Russia, with nearly 60,000 of these having applied
for refugee status and a further 115,952 having applied for other
forms of legal stay.”

He however stressed that the real numbers are higher, as many
Ukrainians who flee the violence do not register with Ukrainian
authorities or officially apply for assistance. “The Russian
authorities and UNHCR are reporting that 740,000 people have
crossed the border since the start of the year.”

Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin has said that Russia is ready to
provide humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians “on our own.”